Ingredients of a successful commons

The commons refers to the shared resources and ecosystem or human services that sustain or enhance life and have not been portioned off to individual ownership and/or assigned monetary values.

The sharing approaches of a commons occur under a range of agreements, arrangements and principles, many of which evolve over time. A commons may cover agricultural or grazing land, an area of ecosystem services, a pivotal meeting place, a sharing of goods/ideas, a flow of creativity, and so forth. At its heart is a commonly accepted form of managing everyone's use of finite human and environmental systems to ensure infinite availability for all. A commons may be shared by a community or a group within a community, such as shepherds or fisherfolk; child/elderly carers or musicians; authors or community gardeners, just to give a few broad examples.

Despite many areas of land now subject to enclosure, private ownership and government regulation, commons areas continue to thrive in the face of such pressures, and maybe despite these pressures in some cases.